“Come in,” Chrysalis called out, stifling her yawn. She stretched her body as far as the chair would allow, listening to the click of her chitin as the plates popped into place.
Doctor Heart stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He approached the lounging changeling, the limp in his hind leg more pronounced than usual.
Chrysalis rubbed her eye.
“What happened to you?”
“Been laying on the floor out there for the last hour,” he grumbled. With his magic, he snatched the bag from beneath her chair, opened the latch, and started digging inside. “Every so often, my body likes to remind me how old I really am. How about you?” He glanced toward Celestia. “Get the answers you were looking for?”
She shrugged.
“I suppose I did.”
He removed a container of pills from his bag. With a flick of his horn, he popped off the top, spilling out a single red capsule into his hoof.
“Good.”
She watched him swallow the pill.
“You know, Doctor, I don’t know if I ever properly thanked you for what you did for me. I don’t know if I’d be here without you.” Chrysalis shifted her weight, making it easier to lean on the armrest of her chair.
Under Chrysalis’ watchful gaze, he crossed over to Celestia’s side, checking her vitals on the monitors around the room.
“You didn’t? Never noticed.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Chrysalis chuckled. “How is she?”
“Same as she was yesterday. Same as I’m sure she’ll be tomorrow.” He started unraveling the bandages from Celestia’s side, inspecting them as he went. “Unless, of course, Princess Twilight’s new cure does its job. At least, that’s the rumor going around.”
“She’s got the whole castle abuzz, doesn’t she? I couldn’t tell you anything else. She was still working on it when I left today. She seemed rather confident in it, though.”
He nodded.
“She’s a smart kid. I’m sure she figured it out.”
“Worried you’ll be out of a job?” Chrysalis asked through a smirk.
“Out of a job?” He gave a short, singular laugh. “The day Canterlot doesn’t need me anymore will be the greatest day of my life.”
“Don’t start celebrating just yet, Doctor. You’ve still got plenty of work ahead of you.”
“Speaking of which.” Doctor Heart retrieved a new roll of cloth from his bag and inspected it. “You might want to start heading out. This next part isn’t for the faint of heart.”
Chrysalis stood and started for the door. She turned the handle but hesitated in opening it. With a smile on her face, she glanced back at the doctor, still fumbling with his wrap. “Thank you, Doctor Heart. For everything you’ve done.”
He grunted in response.
Chrysalis left him to his work. Out in the hallway, the three nurses were snoring on the floor, their heads resting on their hooves. Eager to be away before the doctor woke them, she fled towards Twilight’s bedroom. Shackling her nerves, she raised her hoof to knock. Then a strange sight held her still: her own room’s door, open wide to the world.
She glanced back and forth between the two doors. Reluctantly, she stepped away and continued down toward her quarters. Inside, the lights were off, blinds were pulled tight, leaving the room in complete darkness. From somewhere in the shadows, someone sobbed quietly.
“Hello?” Chrysalis called, stepping cautiously through the doorway.
No response.
Her instincts kicked in. She closed the door behind her, turning the handle to keep it silent. Without light interfering from outside, her vision adjusted. Pitch black turned to muted gray. Armed with her changeling instincts, tracking came easily. She followed the sound to the bathroom, where she found a mare curled up on the floor.
“Twilight?” she asked.
“Yeah?” The tearful alicorn lamented.
“What are you doing?”
“I was looking for you.”
“Here?” Chrysalis glanced around at their cramped surroundings. “On my bathroom floor? Crying?”
“Yeah,” Twilight muttered, wiping her nose with a foreleg. “I thought you left again. I don’t remember why, but this seemed like the best idea at the time.”
“Right.” Chrysalis offered a hoof to the alicorn. “Give me your hoof. We need to talk.”
Twilight reached out and took the offering. Chrysalis hauled her up, but the princess couldn’t catch her balance. From here, Chrysalis could smell the wine on her breath. Suddenly, this episode didn’t seem so out of place.
“I know we do. I want to go first. I’m really sorry about what I said today. I was completely out of line. I didn’t know what to do. You were upset and I . . . I’m sorry. I just want you to know that before you decide.”
With Chrysalis’ assistance, Twilight stumbled over to the bed. It took her a few attempts, but she finally managed to sit on the edge. The moment she was unaided, though, she toppled back onto the mattress.
“You don’t need to be worried. With the help of a . . . a friend, I did some soul-searching of my own tonight. That’s what I wanted to talk about. I realize now that I’ve been lying, Twilight.”
Twilight prodded at the red rings around her eyes.
“About what?” she asked.
“About us.” She sighed. “But we should probably wait until morning, when you’ve sobered up a little. You can sleep in here, tonight.”
With that, Chrysalis made to leave. She was halfway to the door when something stopped her. She glanced back to see Twilight’s magic wrapped around her moss-blue tail. She stared at Twilight expectantly. The princess had wormed her way over to the edge of the bed, leaving a generous space on the sheets.
“This bed is cold.”
“Then add another blanket. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“If you wait until morning, I’ll be all grumpy again.”
“It’s important, Twilight. Not something I want you to remember in a half-drunken stupor.”
Twilight said nothing, motioning to the empty half of the bed.
With a resigned sigh, Chrysalis relented and returned to the bed. She positioned herself until she could see nothing but the wall. Despite her efforts to ignore it, she could feel a gaze boring into her back.
“What did you lie about?” Twilight inquired.
“Just go to sleep, would you?” Chrysalis pleaded.
She groaned as Twilight draped herself over the changelings’ larger frame.
“Tell me.”
Chrysalis buried her head deeper into the pillow.
“When I realized you . . . felt something for me, I thought I was crazy. When I realized you really did have feelings for me, I thought you were just toying with me, trying to get me to help or to reform me. Then I realized that you were being serious. Then I thought you were the crazy one. You were so kind to me. Even after everything I did to you. I had never felt anything like that before. I felt happy. I felt wanted. And it scared me, Twilight.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Twilight sank back down to the bed. She pressed her back against Chrysalis’.
“It was the fact that I was starting to reciprocate those feelings that scared me,” Chrysalis continued. “I ruled my changelings with an iron grip. I never had to win their love. But you were different. And the closer you wanted to get to me . . . the more I panicked.”
She dabbed the corner of her eye with the corner of her pillow.
“I tried to open up to you, Twilight. I really did. But every time I tried, I came up with another excuse to keep away from you. I told myself that you were better off without me, that someday you’d realized what a beast I was and hate me for it. At one point, I even convinced myself that it would be easier to forget about all of this.”
Twilight’s weight shifted again, exposing Chrysalis’ back to the chilly bite of evening.
“I made all of these excuses because it was easier than the truth - than fearing I would screw this up. I knew someday I’d say the wrong thing, make the wrong joke. And you would realize that I didn’t really change. You’d hate me for it. And I’d have ruined the best thing that ever happened to me. I couldn’t take that chance.”
“You were scared of me?” Twilight said.
The world came back into focus. Twilight had circled the bed to meet Chrysalis face-to-face.
“I was.”
“It can be scary to open up like that. Especially if you’ve never done it before.”
Chrysalis scooted away from the edge, creating a new space for Twilight. She smiled as she tucked herself in beside the changeling, feeling the cold touch of her shell.
“I know now that I made a mistake. There’s still every chance I’ll screw this relationship up. I know that.”
Twilight giggled, tickling Chrysalis’ chest plate.
“I used to be the same way. But a few good friends showed that sometimes, the bonds you make are worth it.”
“And I’ve decided that you’re worth it, Twilight. You’re worth facing my fears.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
They embraced beneath the covers.
“And that led me to make another decision,” Chrysalis said. “About us.”
“And that is?” Twilight inquired excitedly.
“Something I should have shared with you a long time ago.”
Twilight cupped Chrysalis’ chin, forcing the changeling to look at her.
“I trust you, Chrysalis.”
“I-I should warn you though,” Chrysalis stammered. “It might hurt a little. I–”
Twilight leaned forward and kissed her marefriend.
The rosy taste of wine on Twilight’s lips only sweetened the swirl of emotion whirling around them. Emboldened by Twilight’s forwardness, Chrysalis broke away.
“I said I trust you,” Twilight repeated. “Do it.”
Chrysalis took a deep breath to quiet her mind. She leaned forward this time. Twilight closed her eyes, readying for another kiss. Instead, she felt Chrysalis’ warm breath across her neck. The changeling nibbled at her fur. The tickling caused Twilight to fuss, but she refused to back away. Her willpower almost broke when she felt Chrysalis’ reptilian tongue lash across her skin. While Twilight squirmed, she couldn’t ignore the curiosity building in her mind. The saliva soaked into her fur, numbing the skin beneath.
Then she felt the fangs. Every muscle in her body tensed. Each beat of her heart pressed her throat against those sharpened teeth. The sudden shift made Chrysalis hesitate. To make her wishes clear, Twilight tilted her head, exposing the tender flesh of her neck for a clear bite.
“Thank you,” Chrysalis whispered.
As the fangs depressed into her, the sense of numbness on her skin spread to the rest of her body. Her limbs fell like stone and her tongue refused to form words. For a moment, she feared she might fall from the bed, but Chrysalis wrapped her slender limbs around the smaller mare, restraining her completely.
Uncontested, Chrysalis pulled her fangs free. Although Twilight felt no pain, she could feel the warmth trickling from the twin holes in her neck. Her body shuddered involuntarily as Chrysalis’ tongue returned, licking away the blood.
The venom enveloped her completely, leaving her more lightheaded than the liquor. In a moment of weightlessness, a thought slipped free from Twilight’s grasp. A thought of her and Chrysalis. Of the possibilities of what the changeling might do to her next. Her cheeks burned red, though this time, alcohol wasn’t to blame.
A roaring laugh snapped Twilight from her trance.
“What’s so funny?” Twilight demanded. Her words felt as light as she did. If she were in the right state of mind, she would have attributed that to the fact that her lips never moved as she said them.
“If you wanted me to try that, you only had to ask,” Chrysalis answered.
The changeling's voice emanated from every direction at once. Twilight blinked a few times, trying to clear the slight blur in her vision. The room echoed with a strange pink glow. To her confusion, the air tasted sweet.
“Did you just say that without moving your lips?” she asked.
“I did,” Chrysalis answered. “And so did you.”
“How am I hearing you, then? What did you do?”
Chrysalis shifted again. Her larger frame enveloped Twilight, holding her tight like a child’s toy.
“I told you I had something to share with you. It seems you took that a more . . . interesting direction.” Another laugh. “You’re in my mind, Twilight. And I’m in yours.”
“I . . . You . . . We’re . . .” Twilight struggled desperately to put her thoughts in order.
“Which means,” Chrysalis thought in a whisper, “that I just saw everything you wanted me to do to you.” Though Twilight could no longer see the changeling’s face, she could feel the smile on her lips.
And then Chrysalis’ words struck.
“You . . . what?” Twilight’s eyes widened.
“I saw all of it.”
The heat in Twilight’s cheeks nearly ignited her fur. But the more she tried to fight the thoughts, the more of her fantasies bubbled to the surface. The wine certainly didn’t help.
“Do you want to know a secret, Twilight?”
Twilight squeaked.
“Among Changelings, such acts are simple. A tool to keep us fed, to keep our prey satisfied. When we really wish to show our affection, we share our minds. Just like this.”
“What are you saying?” Twilight asked, equally scared and excited.
A mad cackle jolted through her mind.
“Twilight Sparkle. I, Cimeteriah Chrysalis, Claim you.”
Twilight’s thoughts went haywire.
“And now, you belong to me.”